In Another Time
by knitterlywitch
Summary: If Peter had been caught after his betrayal, Harry would have been raised by Sirius and Remus in a house on the grounds of the cemetary where his parents were buried and the timeline would have changed. This story shows these changes. AU, RLSB, Slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Words of warning from the Author.**

**Things will change in this fic from the cannon series. People will die who once lived and vice versa. People who are guilty will be redeemed and people who are innocent may do stupid things to protect their families. As situations change, the people in the situations will change as well. If I make any errors or you see any large plot holes, please let me know.**

**Four days After The Death Of James And Lily Potter **

The Wizengamot looked down at Wormtail as though they were looking at a bug; or, more aptly, at a _rat_. "Peter Waldo Pettigrew, you are accused of fifteen counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, four counts of conspiracy to commit murder, one count attempted manslaughter, twenty counts of treason and one count of failing to register as an animagus. How do you plead?"

"Um...er," Peter raised his hands to his face nervously. The chains, which prevented his transformation, kept them from getting close enough. He was crying, "I was... I was under... the...erm... Imperius curse. I...er... Remus, Sirius, te-tell them that I wou-wouldn't do something like this!" He looked at his friends that sat behind him. Both of them ignored him.

"Say, what is the manslaughter charge about, Moony?" Sirius Black, a man with dark hair and a leather jacket who fit his name very well, asked. He had his feet up on the half-wall that acted as a divider between the courtroom and the people watching the case. A cigarette hung unlit from his lips and he had his arm around his companion, Remus Lupin, which made the other man seem more comfortable.

"They, uh, couldn't charge him with attempted murder with me. Because of the whole, not-really-being-not-really beast thing; so they um charged him with manslaughter instead. " Remus whispered into Sirius' ear.

"Arseholes," Sirius muttered. He crossed his arms, annoyed.

"Please, Sirius, Remus, you have to tell them I'd...I'd ne-never hurt James or Lily... Never!"

"Did you hear something, Sirius?" asked Remus in calm, even tones. An angry smile seemed to grace his lips for a few brief seconds, then nothing. He reached for his companion's face and pushed a out of place lock away.

"Please, Sirius, Remus, Please, Moony; you have to tell them I wouldn't... I didn't!" Peter was crying.

"I would tell them that, Peter," said Remus thoughtfully, "If I believed you didn't. But I don't; I'm sorry. The most you can ask for, at this point is forgiveness. And I can't grant that. Only James and Lily; and Harry, when he's older, can grant you that. You made your bed, now lie in it. Come on, Sirius, let's go, Petunia said she expects us to pick up Harry by 7:00."

"Give him what he deserves, blokes," said Sirius, walking out, following his friend. Then he added "And birds, sorry, Amelia, I forgot they added you."

As the door closed behind them, the façade they had worn in the courtroom started to fade.

"I can't believe we did that," said Sirius, starting to tear up. "I wanted to-the whole time- wanted to jump over the divider and tell him it would be okay, that this was some big misunderstanding. I still can't_ believe_he... killed James...killed Lily. Do you think they'll give him the dementor's kiss?"

Remus looked sad too, though he'd never cry in public. "I don't know Sirius. Part of me wants them to, part of me... doesn't. He's still our friend. I keep thinking, 'James'ed know what to do, but James is...'"

"Dead, yeah; me too. I don't know how I'm going to raise Harry without James' help." Sirius let out a sad laugh now, "I'll probably fuck him up; turn him into a male Bellatrix or something."

"If you don't think you can, Dumbledore said that the Dursley's-"

Sirius took a deep breath. "No, I'm not letting that horse faced bint raise my Godson. Full stop; she'll brainwash him into thinking magic doesn't exist or is wicked or something."

"If she does that to him about magic, I wonder if she'll tell him about people like us," thought Remus in a puzzled voice.

"Probably teach him we're sinful and hedonists. Which_ I_ am both of, but you are neither."

"You're just trying to get on my good side, Sirius Black." Then he asked, "Can I bum a fag off you?" They walked into the lift now. It was empty except for an elderly gentleman wearing a cravat, a pair of trousers and nothing else.

"Sure, I only got Dragon's Breath though; the store here doesn't sell Royals, which is a pity."

Remus made a face. "I'll wait until we can pick up the others, then." Dragon's Breath cigarettes were far too harsh for him, plus they had no filter. He only smoked them as a last resort.

The two said nothing for few seconds; Remus because the only things he could think to discuss involved Harry and would likely cause the man in the lift with them to get involved in their conversation and Sirius because he was trying very hard not to say something cruel, uncouth or perverse to the man.

The man got off at the department of mysteries. "So, how are we going to do this?" asked Sirius, sounding rather like a confused child.

"Do what?" asked Remus.

"You know, raise Harry. You know I can't do it alone."

"Well, I can't help you."

"What do you mean you can't help me? Moony, you're great with kids. You made that little seven year old stop crying when we found her family... you know. Prongs always said you'd be the best father out of any of us. You have to help me."

"When I said I can't help you, Sirius, I didn't mean _I don't want to help you,_ I meant I literally **cannot **help you raise Harry. It's a ministry law, people like me can only raise their own children, and even then, there is a huge risk they'll be taken away, usually on trumped up charges of child abuse. And if they won't let me help raise a normal child, they most definitely won't let me raise the Boy Who Lived. Even if I was friends with his father and you and I are lovers. At best I can be an 'uncle' who visits occasionally."

"Well, you're already living with me and Harry is going to live with me and I'm not going to change that because of some retarded law."

"Muggle vulgarity, lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas I suppose," muttered Remus under his breath.

"Level Eight, Atrium. Please, have a lovely day!" announced the lift cheerfully.

"You know, that witch in the fountain, she always reminded me of-"

"Lily?" asked Remus, "yeah, me too."

"No, well sort of now that you mention it, but no, I was going to say your mum."

Remus didn't seem to take notice to this, "I never did like that statue."

"Is it for the reason I think it is? Oedipus complex and all that?"

Remus made his face go completely blank. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Mr. Black."

"Bullshit, you know exactly what I am talking about."

"You really need to work on that swearing. D'you want Ha-" Remus nearly said 'Harry' but that would have drawn attention to them, so instead he said, "-the kid walking around swearing like a sailor?"

Sirius thought about this for a second, as they exited the ministry, then he decided, "Hell yeah; that shit would be hysterical!"

"_That_ would also be extremely bad parenting," said Remus, sounding vaguely like a schoolmarm who had been in the profession for a bit too long.

"You sound like McGonagall when you say stuff like that. You'll get old before your time, you will, Moony Lupin."

"I'm already old before my time," moaned Remus, taking a leaf out of Sirius' book, (well, Sirius didn't so much have a book as a series of books on a metaphoric shelf. The specific book was the book of acting overdramatic.) "I found a grey hair couple of days ago and I'm only twenty-one. I'm getting dreadfully old! Old I tell you!" he added, pushing Sirius slightly for dramatic effect.

Again there was silence as they walked to the train station. They were going to take it to Surrey, where Harry had been staying with Lily's sister.

"So, will you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Help me raise Harry. Doesn't even have to be legal, just you, me, your parents, Dumbledore and maybe Hagrid and McGonagall need to know." Sirius seemed almost perky at this thought.

"I don't know, Sirius. It's a good idea and all; a good way 'round it, but at the same time, what happens if, goodness forbid, you pass on? I'd have no legal ties to Harry, he could know me his whole life as his parent and then one day, you die and instead of me getting custody, Petunia would. It wouldn't be fair to Harry. I'm not sure I have the heart to do that to him, Sirius." Remus stated all this very calmly, while looking out the train window instead of looking at Sirius.

Sirius sighed and put his arm around Remus again, "I hate to say this, Moony, you know how I hate to bring up your possible- but, if we're completely honest with each other, you know it's a lot more likely you'll...die... before I do. So, that's barely a worry. Aside from that, Dumbledore would make sure you got guardianship."

Remus snorted, still not looking at his companion. "Dumbledore is neither infallible, nor omnipotent, Sirius. Hate to break it to you, it does feel rather like that time the four of us told that Hufflepuff sixth year that Santa Claus wasn't real. But, back on subject, a couple thousand years of bias isn't going to end just because Dumbledore says for it to. To put it another way, just because Dumbledore says jump, it doesn't mean people like your Mum will say 'how high?'"

"But he is the executer of James' will and I'll make him the executer of mine. Maybe the reason these laws are the way they are is because no one _wanted to_ give custody to someone like you. No offense, just speaking from experience here."

"None taken; I just want you to be prepared for this, Sirius. I just want you to know if you _**do **_have me help you with Harry, they're a higher chance you'll lose custody or get vilified if my condition is revealed, or... an infinite number of horrible things could happen. I just don't want you going in blind is all."

"Seen; I'm not going in blind to the whole-" he looked around the train for people who might have been listening in, but the only other person on the train, a teenager, had a walkman on and probably couldn't hear them, "Werewolf discrimination thing, it's the parenting thing I'm walking blind into. I need help and it's not like I have a mum like yours who I can owl every time the kid has colic or gets a rash after drinking milk or something. I need your help. Harry needs your help. Even if it isn't to help parent, you can help protect him and keep him safe. Dumbledore isn't so sure how the burying-Lily-and-James-on-the-property plan will work, so we need backup in case Voldemort tries to find him or some angry death eaters try and kill him. I can only take on so many of them on my own. You on the other hand-"

Remus scoffed, "You're going to trot out my war record? Really, Sirius?"

"Yes, because it proves you're capable. Fifteen death eaters with one spell. A total of two-hundred and eighty-seven kills over a four year period. That's more than seventy-one kills a year. What's my record? With James backing me up every time, I killed seventy-one. Seventy-seven if you don't count Byron Yaxley, Felix Yarr and his gang and that one Ravenclaw who joined the death eaters as accidents. That's it. Alone, I have no chance of keeping Harry safe."

"Fine, we'll try it. But things go sour-"

"We'll ask for help."

"Actually, I was thinking we'd let Petunia raise him but visit and check up on him every week, but if the great Sirius Black is willing to ask for help... I guess we can do it."


	2. Chapter 2

The house November 5th 1981

It was a large, grand house that sat on the top of a hill. It would have been sold for far more money than it had cost Sirius, if it hadn't been on the edge of a cemetery. That was, of course the reason Sirius had bought it. It wasn't because he liked graveyards; in fact they scared him a little. But being near the bodies of Lily and James, Dumbledore had said, would most likely keep Harry as safe as living with blood relatives.

"I think this room should be Harry's," said Remus, walking into a rather large bedroom on the second floor. The sun was shining through the large bay windows, highlighting the sturdy, smooth hardwood floors. The walls were painted a light yellow colour, accented by white moulding. There wasn't any furniture in the room, but a wardrobe door was on the right wall.

"Yes, it would look beautiful with a little rocking chair in the corner, maybe a white knitted blanket on it and that bay window would look nice with some sheer drapes," agreed Remus' mother, Josephine Drake. She and Remus' father were there to help their son unpack their things, and then when that was done, watch Harry while the two of them went out to buy a few of the necessities a baby needed. Harry's cot, for example, had been destroyed the night his parents were killed, and almost all of his clothing as well.

"Don't you think the yellow paint is a little... well, _girly_?" asked Ferdinand Lupin, Remus' father, inquisitively. "After all, Harry is the Boy Who Lived. Shouldn't he have a more masculine paint colour than yellow?"

"Remus' room was yellow when he was a baby," argued Josephine with her lover, "He turned out fine."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment that seemed to say neither man agreed with her on that. Finally Josephine got the hint, "When he's old enough to pick his own paint colour, you can change it."

Closing the door to Harry's room, the two walked down the hallway, opening doors and looking inside and imagining what each room would be for.

"You know," said Josephine walking down the stairs to where Sirius and Harry were, he and Remus had assumed it originally was some sort of a formal parlour, but they couldn't know for sure, "I think I have a box of things from when you were a baby if you'd like me to dig them out. A highchair, a cot, maybe some old books and clothes. D'you want it?"

"Sure, though I'm not sure Sirius would want his godson walking around in second-hand clothing. It took me a year to convince him to let me buy our kitchen pots second-hand."

"Yeah, but those were strangers' things. I think since he knows you and those were your things, it would be different. Aside from that, Sirius needs to learn thrift. He isn't the heir of the House of Black anymore and needs to stop acting like he still is. Otherwise he'll put the two of you into the poor house. Especially with a child to raise; kids are expensive," said Ferdinand, who was bringing up the rear of the group.

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about me, would you Ferdy?" asked Sirius walking out of the parlour, holding Harry close to his body, "For shame, talking about a man when he isn't around," he added dramatically.

"I'm only telling Remus for your and his best interest, Sirius," responded Ferdinand, matching Sirius' tone as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Here, hand Harry to me or Josie and you two can go out shopping. Check out Oxfam; a couple of the other charity shops on High Street."

Sirius gave the baby a kiss and then handed him to Josephine. "We shouldn't be more than a few hours. If we're gone for a day or more, owl Dumbledore or the Aurors."

"Will do," replied Josephine, taking the baby from her husband and pulling Sirius into a hug, kissing him on the cheek. She repeated this with her son. "We'll miss you. Wave goodbye Harry."

Harry waved goodbye to the two of them. Then the two of them walked out the front door and over to Moony's rather beat up car. It had once been a 1955 Ford Country Squire, but that had been many years ago. Now it had the door of a '68 Ford Prefect, the engine of a '53 Ford Customline, and the bumper of a '79 Ford Pinto. The few parts not from the original car that had originally been from a Ford Country Squire had different paint colours. Sirius had once confided in Remus that he felt rather embarrassed riding in it. Remus had slapped him. The car may have been beat up, but it was still Remus' baby. He wouldn't even let Sirius enchant it to fly or anything. It was one of his goals to save up enough money to replace all the parts not originally from a Country Squire with ones that were.

"Do we have to take your car, Moony? Can't we take the motorbike?" Whined Sirius as he got into the car. The seats were leather but in bad shape; he had to get in carefully to ensure he didn't make any of the holes bigger.

"If you wouldn't mind having to find a way to fit a cot on a motorbike without my help, I guess we can take the motorbike." Something about Remus' voice had the undertone of 'if you don't stop insulting my car I will kill you' to it. Part of Sirius wanted to keep making fun of it just to see what would happen. The other part wanted to live. The part that wanted to live won out. Remus could be more than a little scary when he was angry.

The car was quite for a few minutes. The new song by David Bowie and Queen, 'Under Pressure' played on the radio.

"So," said Sirius about halfway through the song, "Other than a cot and some clothes, what else d'you think Harry needs?"

"Nappies, maybe a dummy or two, though he is getting a little old for one, bibs, a playpen, a couple baby gates, a car seat, a helmet for the motorbike, a baby seat for the motorbike, a highchair in case the one Mum has isn't safe, dishes, forks, spoons, bottles, he may be a little old for those, so it depends, sippy-cups, toys, a Sangenic, a changing table, shoes, baby shampoo, washcloths, baby nail clippers, a hairbrush, all sorts of things."

"We need _all_ of that?" asked Sirius, sounding a little annoyed that he would have to spend that much money on items Harry would probably stop using in the next year or two.

"We might be able to do without the motorbike things if you agree to just use the car. We might be able to do without the bottles, dummies and changing table. But that's about it. Like my dad said, babies are expensive."

"I say we get rid of the baby seat for the car. He can ride the motorbike with me every time he has to go out. He takes the car; kids'll make fun of him for riding in it."

Remus scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Yes, because fifteen month olds care about what other children say to them, right. Now what stores should we hit up?"

Shopping with Sirius wasn't as difficult as Remus imagined it would be. Sirius managed the muggle money better than he would have even four months before and didn't whine about having to go to charity shops. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it.

"Look what I found, Padfoot," said Remus, walking from the book section of the Oxfam to the baby section, which was where Sirius was. He held a small stack of board book in one hand and a large hard covered book in the other.

"What is it?" asked Sirius, curiously. He couldn't see the title from where he stood.

"Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier. It's an autographed first edition. Lily'll love it when I gi-" Remus stopped talking. He remembered Lily was dead. "I'm sorry, I've forgotten," he muttered under his breath.

"I miss them too. Last week when I was talking to that real estate bird on the phone and dealing with the muggle money and making small talk about Muggle things, and all I could thing was, 'wow, the next time James comes over, it'll be to a house I own. And it won't have beer cans and fag butts strewn about the place.' Then I remembered-"

"He won't come over. He's dead. Yeah, it's hard; very hard. I miss them every day. Let's check out, and then we can go outside and have a smoke."

As they were checking out, Sirius asked, "D'you think Harry even remembers them, Moony?"

"I don't know. He asks for his mum sometimes while you're out doing things for Dumbledore. His dad too, but not as often."

"Prongs was always out with me until he and Lily went-" Sirius paused and realized that 'went into hiding would sound odd to the muggles around him, so instead he said "away. Makes sense I guess."

"Makes perfect sense. Think I should buy the book anyway?" asked Remus, holding up the yellow hard-cover book.

"You can read it to Harry when he gets older. Help him connect with his mum and all."

That night, once everything had been unpacked and all the new items set up and Remus' parents had gone home, Remus walked into Harry's new bedroom, carrying a large stack of books. He placed most of them on the small bookshelf he and Sirius bought that day when they were out. He kept one book in his hand, a yellow, beaten up chapter book. Harry played on the floor with the blocks that had been bought for him.

Remus sat down in the rocking chair in the corner of the room and started to read aloud, '_Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter for the way was barred to me.' _

**A/N: Not the strongest second chapter, but I introduced a lot of things that will be important in the future. Please keep reading and make sure to review! ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Harry's dialog in this chapter, limited as it might be, is based on how my little sisters speak. They're little American girls though and Harry's from the UK so accents in Harry's baby-talk may seem a little odd. If you have ideas on how it could be improved, please tell me.

Harry, Sirius and Remus were starting to fall into a routine when suddenly Remus remembered the full moon would be on Wednesday and they had forgotten to set up a sitter for Harry. He called up his mother, hoping that the 'Daily Prophet' wasn't sending her and his father out of town to report on something or another. It wasn't uncommon for that to happen.

"Sirius, can you come in here and watch Harry for a moment or two? I have to call my Mum and Dad and see if they can sit for us tomorrow."

Sirius walked out of the kitchen still holding a wooden spoon with tomato sauce on it. "Why do we need a-" asked Sirius looking confused. Then, he figured it out. "That's tomorrow already?"

"Yeah, completely slipped my mind too, which is why I need to call Mum and Dad. Can you watch him? He wants someone to read him a book."

"Sure, make your call in the kitchen though, I have sauce for baked ziti on the stove and it needs to be stirred."

Remus walked into the kitchen and grabbed the telephone off the wall. He punched in his parent's phone number and waited for them to pick up.

"Hullo, you've reached Ferdinand and Josephine, we're out right now, please leave us a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks, goodbye."

"Sirius," Remus called across the house, "I couldn't get a hold of them. Their Ansafone picked up. They only have that on when they're out of town. Who else should we call?"

"I don't know! Hagrid?"

"An owl won't reach Scotland in time for him to get a reply to us. Any other ideas?"

"How old is Nymphadora? D'you think she'd sit him?"

"She's at school and I don't think I'd trust Andromeda with Harry."

"Isn't there a section of the 'Prophet' advertising babysitters? Check in there!"

"Yes, because we most certainly want someone who could easily be a death eater babysitting Harry."

"Well, I don't have any bloody ideas," Sirius yelled angrily.

Remus heard Harry start to cry. He hung up the phone and walked into the parlour. "What'd you do to make him cry?" he asked, sounding annoyed.

"I didn't do anythin'! He just started crying! Why's it got to be my fault anyhow?" yelled back Sirius.

"You were in here! I wasn't. That means you had to have done something!"

"Fine, you watch him, I'll call around for a sitter since if I'm in here you'll blame me for everything," said Sirius angrily, walking out of the room.

After about an hour of calling people they knew and trusted, they came up empty handed. As Remus strapped Harry into his highchair, he sighed.

"See, this was part of why I thought you should raise him on your own."

"What d'you mean?" asked Sirius holding the pan of baked ziti in one hand and a trivet in the other. He placed the trivet down first, and then put the steaming pan of baked ziti on top of it.

"I mean if you raised him alone and couldn't find a sitter, I could lock myself in my flat and do without you being there. Because we're living together, me being gone one night a month would look strange to Harry if you don't come with me."

Sirius sat down at the table, putting down cups and forks and plates for him and Remus. He handed Remus a small plastic plate with cartoon characters on it and a fork and spoon to match. "I wouldn't leave you alone on a full moon even if we weren't doing this together. Cut up Harry's ziti, for me okay?"

"Why not? I did it alone for... what... seven or eight years? Why couldn't I do it alone now?" He then paused and looked at the noodles he had cut in half. "Think this is small enough or should it be a little smaller?"

"Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Isn't that what you tell me all the time? Like that time I drank Hagrid under the table. Next morning I woke up with a hangover the size of McGonagall's arse and every time I complained about it you said it was, and I quote 'Your own damned fault, Padfoot. Remember this for next time, just because you can do something doesn't mean it's wise to do it'. Remember that? So, I'm not letting you do the moon alone ever again," he paused as he started to dish himself up some pasta. "The noodles look fine, but the cheese should be cut up more. He could choke on it. Yeah, that's better."

"Yes, I remember that night rather fondly. All three of you were pissed out of your minds and had to have me drive you home. Then you and Wormtail vomited all over my car. That was back when my leather seats were in decent shape. You're lucky I have a moral code against punching drunks, otherwise your hangover would have been the least of your concerns. Put a bib on Harry please? I don't feel like having to do another load of wash tonight."

"Ank ou" said Harry, digging into his food with gusto the moment it was set on his tray. Sirius smiled.

"We need to work on your enunciation, kiddo," he said, patting Harry on the head. He stabbed some of his ziti and popped it into his mouth. "Anyways, have you tried Lily's sister, whats-her-face? Rose? Poppy? Marigold?" he asked, his mouth still full of food.

"Petunia, and no I haven't. That's a good idea though; I'll give her a ring after dinner. And please, don't talk with your mouth full. You're going to teach Harry enough bad habits without that being one of them."

Sirius pulled his wand from his pocket and muttered a summoning spell under his breath. A bottle of wine flew from the countertop to the table, along with two wine glasses.

"You know, Sirius, you have these things attached to your torso called legs. Muggles use them to walk and get things instead of using summoning spells. Perhaps you can try it some time."

"Bugger off, you want wine or not?"

"What kind is it? What year?"

"Hardys and it's from 1978. Not the best vintage, but better than that swill the Prewitts used to serve at the Order meetings."

"Sure, pour me a glass."

"Dwinka?" asked Harry holding out his sippy-cup.

"No, sorry, we give you some of this, lad, and you'd be out like a light," said Sirius pouring a glass for himself and a glass for Remus. He handed one to his companion.

"With how he's been sleeping lately, perhaps adding a little to his milk wouldn't be that bad of an idea. Oh Harry, smaller bites, you don't need to eat all of it at once."

"And you said I was the bad parent for not minding if Harry swears," said Sirius, grinning a little, looking at Remus over his wine glass.

"Well, I was joking, you weren't."

"You do have a point."

"More than one actually, but we shouldn't talk about things like that when we have little ears listening in. Perhaps when he goes to bed though," Remus smiled a strange little smile at Sirius as he cleared his plate.

"I'll make a call to Petunia and get the bath ready for Harry if you watch him and do the dishes."

"Deal, just don't take no for an answer with her. And don't let her be rude to you either."

Remus grabbed the cordless phone in the parlour out of the cradle and brought it with him upstairs. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the water. Knowing it would take Sirius awhile to get the dishes done, he made sure it was a little hotter than he usually would make a baby's bath. Once the tub was about an eighth of the way full, he turned off the water and walked into Harry's bedroom. Sitting down in the rocking chair, he dialled Petunia's phone number. It rang a few times before someone picked up. Vernon Dursley had clearly been expecting someone else.

"Hello, Dursley residence, Vernon Dursley at your service. May I ask whose calling?"

"Hullo Mr. Dursley, this is Remus Lupin, I'm...erm... one of your nephew, Harry's, guardians. I'd like to talk to Mrs. Dursley if it wouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Who gave you this number?" snarled Vernon angrily.

"Your wife did. About two weeks ago after her sister and brother-in-law were murdered," said Remus, sounding like he was talking to a small, very slow, child.

Vernon muttered obscenities under his breath as he walked with the cordless phone to where his wife sat. Most were not appropriate for proper members of society but the words 'poof', 'ponce' 'queer' 'Nancy boy' and 'arse bandit' were used more than once.

"Petunia," said Vernon, covering the mouth piece with his hand, muffling his voice a little. "It's that mincer, Black's, partner." He said the last word rather mockingly.

"What does he want?" asked Petunia, sounding rather irritated, "I'm watching 'Tenko'!"

"To talk to you."

"About what? That Commandant Yamauchi is going to get it, I just know it! I don't want to miss this episode!"

"I have no bloody idea what he wants to know. They better not be asking for money or anything like that. This Lupin fellow doesn't even work, did you know that? He's a 'stay at home dad'. I've never heard anything more ridiculous. 'Stay at home dad.'"

"Um, Vernon, I can hear every word you're saying," said Remus quietly into the mouthpiece.

"Oh, yes, of course," said Vernon sounding rather humiliated.

"Can I talk to Petunia or not? It's rather important."

"Oh, yes of course." Vernon handed the phone to his wife. Remus made a mental note that he should humiliate Vernon next time he called. He'd get more results that way.

"Hello, Petunia Ev- I mean Dursley. What do you need, Lupin? And make it quick, the show's on a commercial."

"We need a sitter tomorrow. One of my parents is in the hospital up in Scotland and babies aren't allowed in the hospital. I've called everyone I can think of to sit for Sirius and I. We'd be willing to pay you to watch Harry overnight."

"Ten pounds an hour and I'll do it. And bring over a playpen or a cot for him to sleep in."

"Of course, thank you for being so nice about this, Petunia."

"My show's back on, I got to go, goodbye." Petunia hung up the phone without even waiting for Remus to respond.

"Look who's nice and clean and ready to get his pyjamas on," said Sirius walking into the room. He held Harry, who was wearing a hooded bathrobe, by the hand and walked him into the room. "What did she say, Moony?"

"We have to pay her ten pounds an hour. But, she'll do it."

"Thank G-d. Did her husband, the whale, give you any trouble?"

"Called me a few names, but nothing big. I think he should get a job as a driver of a black cab. With his political beliefs, he'd be great at it."

"I personally think blokes who drive black cabs are nicer. Can you take care of Harry while I go clean up the bath toys?"

"Right, when you're done meet me in the kitchen, we have to plan for tomorrow."

"Right," said Sirius, walking out of the room.

Remus dressed Harry in a sleep suit and placed him in his cot.

"Don't want sleep!" shouted Harry angrily.

"You have to sleep, kiddo. It's bedtime. Now what book do you want me to read?"

"No books! No sleep!" shouted Harry again.

"Fine, I'll pick out the book, but if you don't like it, you can't complain. What am I saying? You're a toddler; you're going to complain no matter what I do."

Remus grabbed a book off the shelf and began to read. "In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed. They left the house at half past nine in two straight lines in rain or shine the smallest one was Madeline... "

"Did Harry go down easy?" asked Sirius, handing Remus a mug of tea.

"No, he fought me the whole way, but by the end of the book he was asleep. Poor thing, he just doesn't seem to want to go to bed."

"Well, of course not, one time he was going to bed and his mother was murdered. I'd be scared to go to sleep too."

"So," said Remus, stirring his tea and not looking at Sirius.

"So," agreed Sirius.

"Let's get down to logistics; we don't want to destroy this house in one full moon."

The next morning, Sirius let Remus sleep and brought Harry over to the Dursley's house himself. He got Harry dressed, made him breakfast and took him over there on his motorbike.

"Hullo Petunia, I'm so happy you were willing to watch Harry for Remus and me."

"Save it, Black. I'm not doing this for you; I'm doing it for Dudley. He needs playmates. None of the neighbourhood kids will play with him, can you believe that?"

Sirius could believe that, but he didn't want to lose Petunia as a sitter, so he said "Really? Dudley seems like such a nice boy, I'm surprised."

"I know. I say it's that Jolliffe woman turning them against me. She's Scouse you know; I don't trust people from Liverpool, shifty-eyed thieves the lot of them, just like the Gypsies."

Knowing that arguing with her could lose him a sitter and agreeing with her would start a conversation, Sirius instead chose a third option, "Petunia, I have a long car ride ahead of me, would you mind if I used your-?"

"Sure, but only the one on the top floor. The one on this floor is broken."

"Can I have a go at fixing it? I'm pretty good at fixing things."

"You aren't going to do any of those freaky things?"

"Magic you mean? No, I can fix a toilet without it." This was, of course a lie. Sirius was going to used magic. He feared changing a light bulb without it. But he wouldn't let Petunia know he used magic. And Remus had told him to be nice to her, and fixing her toilet was a nice thing to do, right?

Once he fixed the toilet, claiming to Petunia that the tank chain had been loose, he took off, going back home to take care of Remus.

It had been a hard night. The wolf had been expecting its whole pack, not just Padfoot, so it was harder to control and the smell of humans everywhere wasn't the best either, but the only thing that got broken was a small vase that had been on the mantle. Still, when morning came, Sirius was exhausted.

"Think we can leave Harry there for a few more hours, Pads?" mumbled Remus as his friend carried him into the bedroom.

"Sure we can, you need your rest and I need mine. Now get some sleep," said Sirius getting into bed next to him. "Goodnight."

At about noon, both of them were awoken by the telephone ringing.

"Let the ansafone get it," mumbled Sirius tiredly as Remus got out of bed.

"Could be Petunia. Need to make sure Harry's okay."

"I'll get it then, go back to bed."

"I'm already up!"

"Fine, you get it. I'll get dressed and pick up Harry."

"Hullo?" asked Remus picking up the phone.

"It's Petunia, I'm just calling to let you know that Dudley is ill and that Harry might have caught whatever he has. When are you and Black coming to get him?"

"We...er... just got home an hour ago. Sirius just left to get him. He should be there in about a half an hour."

"Are you sure you aren't sick, Lupin? You sound like you are."

"Just a little cold," lied Remus.

"Well, have a lay down and some soup," said Petunia. Remembering this wasn't a friend of hers, she added, "I don't want to have to watch that brat any more this week."

"Goodbye Petunia."

"Goodbye."

The rest of the day, Remus slept and Sirius accomplished the impossible; keeping a toddler quiet the whole afternoon without having to resort to silencing spells.


	4. Chapter 4

The month of November went by very slowly. It seemed to take forever to get to each Friday. Especially for Remus. He spent the month caring for Harry, who did indeed catch Dudley's illness, and dealing with being sick himself.

Sirius didn't have the best month either. He spent part of it begging the auror office at the ministry to allow him to complete the classes he dropped out of when the war began and the other half wishing he hadn't. It became quite clear that the new head of the auror office, Alastor Moody, lived up to his reputation as a hard-arse.

Home wasn't much better for either man. They spent part of the time fighting about Harry, part of it missing James and Lily and part of it trying to find a moment to sleep or be alone. A sixteen-month old baby who lost their parents could be rather clingy. But it was now the first Saturday in December and Sirius was sure things would get better.

"So," said Sirius, picking Harry up out of his crib first thing Saturday morning, "you have to behave today. Moony and I are both tired of being cooped up in the house, so you have to be good so we can go out and do something. Understand?"

Harry stared at the wall, babbling away while sucking on his fist.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Sirius, pulling some clothes out of Harry's wardrobe along with a clean nappy. He got Harry dressed and then, holding his hand, walked Harry to the stairs. He and Remus, at the advice of Remus' mother, were starting to let Harry go up and down the stairs while they were watching. So, as he had been doing for a while, he set Harry down on the top step and holding his hand, helped him walk down the first few steps. It was a slow process, but finally, they were at the bottom of the stairway.

At the bottom of the stairs, Sirius picked Harry up and walked into the kitchen with him. Remus was making breakfast.

"Do you want tomatoes? Because Harry doesn't seem to like them and I'm not going through the effort if I'm the only one who'll eat them," he asked, still holding a spatula. The kitchen smelt like fried potatoes and bacon.

"Sure," said Sirius, putting Harry into his highchair. "So, what do you want to do today?" he asked as he snapped the tray into place.

"Honestly? Sleep," said Remus, laughing a little and stifling a yawn. "Here, can you put these on the table?" he asked, picking up some plates, glasses and utensils from the counter and handing them to Sirius.

"D'you want me to get out the juice?" asked Sirius, grabbing the plates and setting them on the table. The moment he said it, Harry looked at him.

"Duce?" Harry asked, no longer interested in gnawing at his hand.

"Yeah," responded Remus, "Apple for Harry, though, I don't think he cares much for orange and the pulp keeps getting stuck in his sippy cup's holes."

"Maybe we could go to the cinema," said Sirius off-handly, pouring the drinks. "That new Katherine Hepburn film, 'On Golden Pond' opened yesterday. I heard it's supposed to be good. Here's your juice, kiddo," he said handing it to Harry who took it without hesitation.

"I never liked her much. I know her characters are supposed to be eccentric, but I always found them irritating. Bet you this film is her swan song."

Sirius looked confused. "Swans don't sing though."

"Muggle term. Means your last performance before you die, or leave entertainment or whatever," he walked over to the table carrying a plate of scrambled eggs and another of bacon. "Could you-," he gestured with his head to the other plates of food on the stove top.

"Sure. So, aside from sleep, what else do you think would be fun? We could visit... no, that's right, he and Fabian died...Or... no that closed, the man who owned it got killed during the war. The library is fun; we could go to the library."

"I may be speaking for my librarian mother here, but no, going to the library with a baby is a bad idea. We could go to the park."

"It's too cold," said Sirius as Remus sat down at the table. He dished Harry up some eggs, potatoes and toast, deciding to save most of the bacon for Remus and himself. "Christmas is coming up, we could go shopping for gifts."

"Other than my parents, each other and Harry, who else do we have to buy gifts for?" asked Remus, digging into his potatoes. He had covered them, his eggs and even bacon and tomatoes in ketchup.

"You know, you're a better cook than you give yourself credit for. Your food isn't like James' where you have to drench it in ketchup to even eat it, you know," said Sirius, biting into his toast. Remus gave him a puzzled look.

"I like ketchup," was all he said.

The telephone rang. Remus started to stand up, but Sirius gestured to him that he'd get it.

"Hello?" asked Sirius, picking up the receiver of the black rotary phone that sat in the hallway between the kitchen and the front rooms.

"Hullo, Love," said Ferdinand Lupin from the other end, "How are you today?"

"I'm well, Ferdy. How are you and Josie?"

"We're doing great. We're actually headed down to around where you all live today to pick up a Christmas tree. Would you like to come with us? We thought you all probably need to get out of the house for a bit. When was the last time the two of you went out at all?"

"I have to discuss it with Re-"

"We'll buy you lunch." That was a weak spot for Sirius. Offering free food. He may have been raised in one of the richest wizarding families in the world, but free food was still the way to get him to do whatever you said to do.

"Okay, when will you be here?"

"About a quarter of an hour. Josie stopped at a petrol station and I decided to call and invite you two. Because she's been whining and moping about not getting to see the baby that often and it's getting kind of annoying. She keeps reminding me she's only thirty-nine and that we can have more children, but honestly, I'm not sure I want to go down that path... you know with Greyback still after me for some of my reports."

"Josie really fudges her age, doesn't she?" asked Sirius amused at her claim.

"No," said Ferdinand, sounding puzzled and a little hurt, "She _is_ only thirty-nine. She had Remus when she was seventeen at the end of her seventh year."

"Oh..." feeling he had wrecked the conversation, Sirius said "I'll see you in a bit, Harry's crying. Got to go." He hung up the telephone and walked into the kitchen, back to his breakfast.

"Did you know your Mum is only thirty-nine?" asked Sirius, taking a bite into his fried tomato.

"She called?"

"Your dad did. Apparently she's been harassing him about having more children since Harry came."

"Oh? And how does Dad feel about this?" asked Remus, looking mildly amused as he took a sip of his tea.

"He doesn't want any more. Invited us to go hunting for a Christmas tree with them. They're taking us out for lunch too."

"Oh, the mighty Christmas tree, one of the most dangerous creatures in the entire world. Kills twenty-five people a year. Garners a 5x rating in Extraordinary Plants and Where to Find Them, the far less popular sequel to 'Fantastic Beasts," said Remus more dramatically than usual.

Sirius smiled and playfully wacked Remus with his napkin. "Shut up and eat; they'll be here pretty soon. We need to get this show on the road."

"I'm done. You on the other hand aren't. You're the one holding things up."

"I had to answer-," tried Sirius.

"Eat. I'll get Harry all ready. Like you said, they'll be here soon," said Remus looking amused.

"Oh, bugger off."

Sirius finished up breakfast and got ready for the day, just in time to hear the sound of a car horn outside.

Finding their trees with Remus' parents had been far easier than Sirius expected. All one simply had to do was drive to a place that farmed them, pay the people some money and look around for the perfect tree and cut it down without using magic. It was the last bit that tripped him up.

"So," he asked, feeling more than a little puzzled as he held the saw and looked at the tree while everyone else, including Harry, who sat on a sled Mr Lupin had brought, looked on in either amusement or pity, "How do you do this?"

"You take the saw, put it up by the tree and rub into it," explained Remus' mother patiently, placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"I don't get it. Can't I pretend to do it and one of you use a spell to cut it?" he asked. Truthfully, Muggle technology made him more than a little nervous.

"Nope, you have to do it, Sirius," insisted Remus, "Family tradition, newest to it has to cut it down."

"Fine, but if I end up in St. Mungos, you have to visit every day. And bring cake."

"Deal," agreed Remus.

"On the count of three then?"

"Sure. One, Two, saw."

Sirius started sawing down the tree and with only a few small cuts, it was down.

"See," said Josephine, smiling smugly, "Was that so hard?"

"Quiet," was all Sirius had to say.

"You shouldn't talk like that to the woman whose buying you lunch," said Josephine, pretending to pout.

The drive to the nearest restaurant didn't take that long. There were almost no people there when they got there. The rush of people headed to the countryside stopping for breakfast had ended and the rush of the lunch crowd hadn't quite started yet. The only person there was a waitress behind the counter playing solitaire.

"Hello, folks, table for four and a highchair?" she asked in her most pleasant tones.

"Yes, Ma'am," said Remus, speaking for the group.

"Booth or table?"

"Table, I think," said Ferdinand, interrupting. He looked at the door nervously as it opened with a small ring of a bell hanging in the doorway.

"I'll be right back with the menus," said the young waitress chipperly.

"Josie, do you have some paper and a pen?" asked Ferdinand, still looking very nervous.

"Sure, Ferdinand," she said, reaching for her purse off the ground and pulling both things out.

Ferdinand wrote something quickly on the paper and then caught Sirius' eye. "Would you like to play tic-tac-toe?" he asked Sirius, calmly, passing him the pen and paper.

The scrawl on the paper read, _'We need to leave __**now**__.' _

Sirius took the pen and paper from him _'Why?' _"Your move, Ferdinand," said Sirius, handing it back.

'_I'm pretty sure that's Greyback. The way he moved when he walked... Get Remus' attention, but be subtle about it! Only he'd know for sure.' _"You go."

"Oi, Remus, I think your Dad's cheating making that move, can you check?" asked Sirius, trying to stay calm. He looked at the man, trying not to make it obvious he was watching him. He did look like some of the pictures of Greyback they'd put in the papers. The last time Sirius had seen the man in person had been back in '77 and a man could change a lot in five years, especially if a man was a werewolf.

Remus studied the note carefully and quickly took a look at the man across the room. "No, Sirius, Dad's right. That's a legal move."

"I don't think so," said Sirius, "Josephine, what do you think?"

Josephine, who had not been paying any attention and had instead been playing with Harry, finally turned to the rest of the table. She glanced at the note and then at her watch. Her voice sounded calm, but Sirius could tell she wasn't. "Who cares if that move is legal? We have to leave. The film starts in fifteen minutes. Ferdinand, you were supposed to be keeping track of the time. Come on, I don't want to miss it! They say 'On Golden Pond' is going to win best picture this year."

She grabbed her keys out of her purse, grabbed Harry out of his highchair and passed him and the keys to Remus. Each of the next couple steps here were carefully calculated in an unspoken mathematics. Remus was the fastest. Giving him Harry and the keys pretty much guaranteed at least two people would end up safe.

Ferdinand went out last. He was the one Greyback truly wanted dead. Him going last would ensure it would be harder for anyone else to get harmed.

Sirius put his hand into his coat pocket and got a grip on his wand as they walked out the door.

The man didn't follow.

The next day in the local paper, there was an article in the local paper about the murder of a local waitress who had been murdered in the same restaurant they had gone to lunch at. According to the paper, the killer had scrawled a note in her blood. _'You're on my list, Lupin family. You and the Boy Who Lived.'_ As Sirius read it, a chill went down his spine. Perhaps the month wouldn't be as good as he though.


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N: Yes, I know time skips are cheap, but I honestly couldn't do anything with baby Harry. Hopefully everyone will enjoy this despite the timeskip)

The next few years it felt like nothing happened. Harry got older, Sirius went to work, the moon waxed and waned but it wasn't, for Remus at least, truly living. It was spending every second Harry was out of his sight terrified Greyback had gotten him, It was worrying that someone else would be killed as a take that to Remus' parents. It was living in fear that each time the doorbell rang it was Greyback there to kill the three of them.

The phone call he got from his mother didn't make things much better.

"Hello, Remus?" she asked. She sounded absolutely terrified.

"Mum, what's wrong?" Remus asked. He was worried.

"Greyback killed them," whispered Josephine, voice breaking a little. "And it's all our fault, your father and I's."

"Killed who?"

Josephine paused "The Lovegoods. They own the Quibbler; well, _**owned**_ the Quibbler. It published one of your father's letters about Greyback. He came and threatened them, demanding they tell him our address. But Xenophillius, G-d rest his soul, refused. And then the moon came out and... They're dead, Remus."

"He got both of them?" asked Remus sadly, already knowing the answer.

"Right; their daughter Luna somehow survived the attack, but she's in St. Mungos. She's only four."

"Did he turn her?"

Remus' mother sighed, "Yes."

"Who found her?"

"Molly Prewitt's sons, well, Molly Weasley now. The twins, Fred and George and their older brother, William. Sinead Lovegood's mother died last week and Molly sent the boys over with a shepherd's pie, because the family was still in mourning and she thought it would be nice for them to have something to eat. They weren't sure she'd make it, so the older of the boys stayed with her while the other two went to get Arthur. Poor thing, she's only four."

"Any family?"

"On her mum's side, no, they're all dead but her dad's side is the reason I called. Her closest living relative is Lucius Malfoy. You know what would happen if he got guardianship."

"Some 'accident' would mysteriously befall her before the full moon. Yes."

"I was hoping, since your father and I have no chance, what with our reputations, even the Weasleys look down on the two of us, you could try for custody."

"Why me? I don't have much more of a chance than you two. And if they find out I have a hand in raising Harry, Padfoot and I could lose him."

"Are you saying you don't want to even try?" Remus' mother snapped.

"I'm going to try, Mum, but I'm not sure Sirius and I have a chance."

"If you can find some loophole you might. Your father and I will be over in a few hours to help you look for one if you'd like. I'll also floo a few people, see if they can help. Try that one thing you were involved in during the war, the Order of the Phoenix or whatever. See if they'll help."

"Mum-"

"They're discharging her in three days. Her guardianship hearing will be in a week from now. I'll let you talk to Sirius about this, but you don't have long to chose. I'm sorry I'm pushing this on you, but I know you'd feel awful later if you don't do this. Goodbye, Love."

"G'bye, Mum. I'll call you in an hour, once I speak with Sirius."

Remus walked up to Harry's bedroom where Sirius was reading Harry a book.

"Sirius, I need to have a word with you, now," Remus said, hearing the fear in his own voice.

"Can Sirius finish the story?" asked Harry. "We're almost at the part where Mack burps and knocks down the tower of turtles!"

"I'll finish it in a mo, Harry," said Sirius, walking into the hallway where Remus stood.

"What is it?" asked Sirius also sounding worried.

"Greyback killed the Lovegoods. Their four year old daughter, Luna, is in St. Mungos."

"Shit," said Sirius, looking at Remus, worried. He put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"That's not the worst bit."

"Someone in my family's in line for custody?" he asked looking Remus in the eyes. Remus barely nodded. "Lucius?" another small nod. "Damn. What are we going to do about this? Lucius would murder her; probably literally."

"Mum and Dad are flooing people to try and get help looking through legal books for some loophole we can exploit. She said we should call the Order. Before we do anything, though, are you sure you want another kid with all that's going on?"

"What?" asked Sirius angrily.

"I don't want to risk us losing Harry," said Remus with a sigh.

"I want to do it if you do. My mum just died, we have the money and the space. D'you you?

"As long as you wanted to, I did. I'll floo the Order and put the kettle on. You finish reading Harry his story. Don't forget to have him brush his teeth. I forgot to pack his toothbrush for his sleepover at Petunia's last night and he has a dentist's appointment in a week."

"Alright."

* * *

"You floo Albus and the rest yet?" asked Sirius as he walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. He grabbed two cans of beer out of the fridge and walked over to the table where Remus sat. He sat down across from him and handed him a beer.

"Couldn't get him. I got Poppy and Irma though; all the other teachers who might have wanted to help were in a meeting in Dumbledore's office. Got Kingsley Shacklebolt's address from your work things, flooed him too. And Mundungus and Hestia. She said she'd try Augusta but she wasn't sure she'd come. Everyone else either said no or must have been out."

"That's it?" asked Sirius. He took a large sip of his beer. The only time Remus had seen him more nervous was during the meeting James' mother had held right after his parents kicked him out.

"Irma's bringing the books. I'm sorry. I couldn't get anyone. Well, I didn't try Andromeda, but no offense, I wasn't-"

"-Sure we could trust her, I understand. When will they-?"

"Before nine."

Remus' estimate had been off. Everyone was there at 8:30 on the dot.

Remus' mother and Hestia Jones had done well. The vast parlour was full of people. Molly Weasley and her large brood took up a whole sofa. Some of her younger children played with a young boy Remus assumed was Neville Longbottom while Neville's grandmother looked on in dismay.

Other people had made themselves comfortable elsewhere in the room. They had helped themselves to the tea and coffee Remus had put out and to the tea cakes someone else had brought with them, probably Remus' father.

"Does everyone know why they're here?" asked Sirius. When he got a mixed response, Sirius sighed. "Right then, I'll tell you again. The Lovegoods were murdered last night by Fenrir Greyback. Their daughter, Luna is in the hospital. Lucius Malfoy is first in line for custody of her. Remus and I don't want that to happen. We want your help to stop it."

"So you're looking for someone to adopt the kid?" asked Mundungus Fletcher from the back of the room. "Cause if you'd have told me tha', I won't have come."

"No, Remus and I want to adopt her," said Sirius.

"Are you sure you want to do that, Sirius?" asked Molly Weasley tensely as she worked on knitting the sleeves of a jumper. "She isn't... Greyback turned her into a werewolf. You know that, right?"

"As am I, Molly," said Remus. He absent-mindedly pushed up his sleeves a bit, letting scars show. "Greyback bit me too, when I was a child; all the more reason for me to adopt her. Who knows better what she's going through than someone who has gone through it?"

Molly muttered a nearly silent apology and went back to her work.

"What do you need help with?" asked Kingsley Shacklebolt in his calm, soothing voice.

"Looking through some of the law books Irma brought. We need help finding some sort of loophole. Neither of us is a close enough relatives to have a chance at custody," said Sirius quietly. "We need manpower-"

Hestia Jones cleared her throat and shot Sirius a look.

"We need _people power_- is that better Hestia? - to find some law that gives us an edge. "I know not all of you can stay and help, that you got kids at home and its past their bedtimes or you have an early start tomorrow, but if you can, please do. During the war, even though the Lovegoods were technically neutral, they allowed the Order to use the Quibbler to send messages. They let us hide in the headquarters of the paper when we couldn't go home. We can't bring them back from the dead, but we can make sure their daughter ends up safe."

The room cleared out a bit. Augusta Longbottom left promising to come by the next day and help. Mundungus left too. So did a few others that Remus' parents had invited.

"I'm sorry, we can't help," said Molly Weasley to Remus. She walk towards the fireplace. Most of her brood followed her.

"But Mum-" tried the oldest of her sons in a quiet voice, probably thinking no one was paying attention. He looked to be about fifteen.

"But nothing, Bill. Come on, all, we're leaving, " she declared in an angry whisper.

"No," said Bill strongly, "I'm staying here and helping, Mum."

"No you aren't. Stop this nonsense, Bill. You're coming home." She grabbed his arm. He yanked it away.

"Molly, just let the boy- " tried Arthur, but his wife promptly shut him down.

"No. Come home now Bill." She grabbed his arm again and again he pulled it away.

"I'm not, Mother, I want to help," Bill said angrily.

"Fine, you want to stay? Stay all blasted night for all I care. Don't be surprised if all your books stay locked up for the rest of the holiday. You'll have bread and water for a week. I swear you that!" Molly said again in her angry whisper, walking into the fireplace. All of her children, minus Bill followed.

Remus walked over to the large armchair in the corner where Bill had just sat down.

"You were one of the three who found her then?" Remus asked quietly.

"Yeah," said Bill, his eyes not quite meeting Remus'.

"I'm glad you could stay. Would you care for a cup of tea?" asked Remus, putting a hand on Bill's shoulder.

Bill smiled and nodded.

"I'll go get you one."

"This is interesting," said Sirius, looking up from the book Irma had assigned him. They had been at it for three or four hours and had found very little. Well, Kingsley had found a valuable tax break he could use, but not much else.

"What is it, Sirius?" asked Kingsley, looking up from his own book.

"Custody chart. You know, order for preference if the parents don't have a will," Sirius said.

"Read it aloud," commanded Ferdinand Lupin who was sitting on the floor by the fireplace.

"Well most of it is pretty obvious-"

"Just read it, Padfoot," insisted Remus.

"Fine. First priority goes to of age siblings of the child who have magical ability, then to of age squib or muggle siblings. Next is of age siblings of the child's parent who have magical ability, then of age siblings of the parent without magic, then close relations with magic- like grandparents and things- then comes close relations without magic, then more distant relatives with magic, then the general wizarding public, then distant relatives without magic."

"That doesn't make sense to me," said Remus' mother, who was sitting next to her partner, "Why do strangers get preference over family who aren't witches and wizards?"

"It's a statute of secrecy thing," Hestia Jones explained, "It's easier to have a child adopted by a wizard they might not know, but who know about magic than have to explain to the kid's great-uncle Stanley in... help me out here?"

"Bangalore?" offered Bill Weasley helpfully.

"In Bangalore, yes, thank you, that the kid's a witch and that all the things they've been told their whole life are fictional really aren't. With closer relatives, it's assumed that the family would have told them."

"Still stupid," grumbled Josephine, crossing her arms.

"I agree. But both of us thinking it's stupid doesn't get us any closer to finding something that actually helps," Hestia reminded her.

The room grew silent for few minutes. Then Bill Weasley looked up from his book and asked, "So, how many people has Greyback changed, exactly?"

"Too many," was all Remus said.

"But like how many? Does the ministry keep track?"

"Yeah," said Sirius, "They have names of all the werewolves in the UK in a few file cabinets. Each time someone is bitten, they get their own file which is placed inside the file of the person who bit them."

"Does Greyback get his own drawer then?"

"His own cabinet," said Remus grimly.

Bill let out a small laugh.

"I was serious."

"Oh, um, sorry. I didn't know."

The room grew silent again. Then Bill decided to ask another question. "Is there something you call the person who changed you?"

"I can't say them in front of you. Your mother is probably angry enough at me without me using profanity in front of you," said Remus, a small smile flitting across his face.

"No, but, I mean is there a term the ministry uses?"

"They call them parents," supplied Sirius helpfully.

This caused smiles to appear on nearly everyone's face, which puzzled Remus.

"Sirius," asked Kingsley, "Does that chart give a definition of siblings?"

"Yeah, one sec; let me find it again," Sirius paused and flipped back a few pages in the book. "Siblings are defined by the ministry as two people possessing one or more of the same parents or who are raised by one or more of the same parents."

"Does it define parents?" asked Hestia, excitedly.

"No, it doesn't," said Sirius, a broad grin spreading across his face.

"Will it work?" asked Remus. Again, the sound of worry in his own voice irritated him.

"It'll at least get you a hearing," chimed in Poppy Pomfrey who had been silent most of the meeting.

* * *

"So, she'll be my sister then?" asked Harry curiously. He wore a large smile on his face and looked out the train window.

"If the court says it's okay, then yes," said Sirius. The three of them, Remus, Harry and Sirius were taking the train down to London to visit Luna in the hospital.

"How old is she?" he asked, fidgeting with an action figure he had brought with him.

"She's a little younger than you. About a year. She's four now. Not sure when she'll be five," said Remus.

"Why is she in the hospital?"

"She's sick. The same _thing_ that killed her parents almost killed her. But she didn't die and she's going to get better," explained Remus. Sirius put his hand on Remus' and gave him a comforting look.

"Is she going to share my room?" asked Harry.

"You sure are asking a lot of questions," said Remus with a smile.

"He's excited," said Sirius, cracking a grin. "He's wanted a sister or a brother for a long time. Petunia tells me every single time he comes over; he tells her he wants a brother or sister.

"Do girls like Doctor Who? Because if they don't we can watch something else, but I hope she likes Doctor Who because I like Doctor Who."

Remus sighed; conversations with a five year old were very circular and could easily get irritating. This was going to be a long trip.

* * *

They reached the hospital just before noon. Remus headed up to the first floor and down the hallway, peering into each room. After the fifth door, he walked in.

"Hello," said Remus, not quite knowing what to say.

A short blonde girl sat on the bed, swinging her legs back and forth and looking through a book like she was reading it.

"Hullo," she said, not looking up from what she was doing. "If you're looking for Mr Burbage, he went home yesterday." She spoke with a slight lisp.

"We're here to visit you, silly," said Harry.

"No, nobody ever visits me," she still didn't look up from her book.

"Can't say that no more, can you?" asked Harry, sitting down in one of the four chairs by the bed.

"Anymore," corrected Sirius as he and Remus sat down as well.

"What anymore?" asked Harry.

"You said 'no more'," started Remus, "but it's- never mind."

"Whatcha doing here?" Luna asked curiously, peering at some of the toys Harry pulled out of his knapsack.

"We- me and Sirius-, we want to adopt you. Do you know what that means?"

"Yes, it means make a kid a part of your family, right?"

"You'd be my sister," Harry put in helpfully.

"Would you like that?" asked Sirius.

"I've always wanted a brother, but you can't adopt someone with parents. And I got parents," insisted Luna.

Remus felt uncomfortable and he shifted a little in his chair. "They didn't tell her, Padfoot."

"Apparently not," agreed Sirius, "You want to tell her or should I?"

"Tell what?" asked Luna, she looked scared.

"Your parents; they died two nights ago, Luna. They were killed," said Sirius. "That was how you got the bite on your leg." He pointed to the bite that peeked out from under her hospital robe.

"No," insisted Luna, turning away, refusing to look at them.

"I wish it was a lie, Luna," said Remus, reaching for her arm, hoping to make her look at him, "But it isn't."

"No, no, no, they'd never leave me," said Luna, bursting into tears.

"Erm," said Sirius, awkwardly, "Harry and I are going to go get Chinese takeaway. We'll be back in a few minutes."

The two walked out of the room, leaving Remus and Luna alone.

"Luna, they didn't want to leave you. They wanted to stay with you, but they couldn't. They were needed somewhere else," Remus would have expanded, but he wasn't really religious. With a lapsed Catholic father and a mother who never officially converted to her religion of choice, he had been given no idea what else might come next.

"G-d wouldn't do that. He wouldn't," sobbed Luna, still not looking at Remus.

"He needed their help with something I bet. Your parents were brilliant, Ravenclaws they were. And He needed their help with something," said Remus, worrying he was lying to the child.

"Really?" asked Luna wiping away her tears, finally looking at Remus, though still not in the eyes.

"I like to think so." He gave her a small smile.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Remus Lupin."

"Did you- did you know my Mummy and Daddy?" she asked, still sniffing away tears.

"Not well, no. We went to school together, Hogwarts, but I didn't know them much. I was in Gryffindor."

"Thas where brave people go, Gryffindor," she said. Remus wasn't sure if she was asking him or not, but he nodded.

"So they say."

In a half hour or so, Sirius and Harry returned with Chinese food to find Luna happily sitting next to Remus, who was reading her a book.

"Remus Lupin, the kiddie-whisperer," proclaimed Sirius, momentarily putting the bag on his shoulder. "I come bearing gifts. Fried rice and lo mein and all sorts of other things."

* * *

It was around nine o'clock when they finally got home. Sirius carried Harry up the stairs while Remus followed him.

"So," asked Sirius, "What did you think? Think she liked us?"

"Yeah, I think she did, but there's a huge difference between liking people when they come to visit and liking them when they actually have to parent you."

"Harry and her seemed to get along well."

"Yeah, it would be a good fit, if we can get custody."

"If," agreed Sirius.


	6. Chapter 6

On Friday afternoon, Remus picked up Harry from school and drove him over to Petunia's house. She had agreed to watch him to ensure that Remus and Sirius could get everything in order for court the next day.

"Twice this month I'm afraid," said Remus with a small smile as Petunia ushered Harry into the house. "Are you going to charge us extra?" he asked, nervously adding, "It doesn't matter if you do; I'd just like to know."

"No," said Petunia, walking into the house, gesturing for Remus to follow her. "But I do want to know about this girl. Why did you suddenly decide to adopt? My nephew I get, friends with his dad. But why another kid?"

"That's a long story," said Remus, pulling at his collar, feeling like his stomach was going to drop out.

"Vernon won't be home for a few hours and my usual soaps are cancelled. Some... I don't know, cricket match or something. And none of the other mothers will talk to me, goodness knows why. I have nothing but time."

"Well, um... she became _disabled _when her family was killed. The family that is related to her most closely related to her, they don't have the best reputation for the way they treat people like her."

"Disabled, how? Is she retarded or a spaz or mental or something?"

Remus sighed. He knew Petunia well enough. She seemed to enjoy sitting for Harry, or at least the money it brought. And Muggles usually handled his condition better than wizards. He had to tell her.

"Perhaps we should sit down and discuss it," he said."It has to do with Lily and Sirius and I's lot."

* * *

"So, every full moon, you become a werewolf," asked Petunia, sipping her tea. She kept her eyes fixed on Remus.

Remus could hear the kids playing in the other room as he took a sip of his too. "Yes, I do."

"And that's why you need me to watch Harry. Because if he stays at your house with you two, he'll be... killed. Because you're not you not yourself? Not because your parents are sick?"

"Yeah."

"How long have you..."

"Since I was five. Just a little older than Luna. The man who killed her parents was the one who bit me. He couldn't kill my parents, though. My dad chased him off."

"Her's didn't though, why?"

Remus sighed sadly. Both Lovegoods were gifted wizards. They should have been able to chase him off. Why they hadn't had bothered him since he heard about their death. "I don't know. Perhaps he stole their wands. Or took them by surprise when he started to transform. They could have forgotten it was the full moon."

"Is he still out there?"

"Yes, he's made threats to my parents and to Harry.

"If he's after Harry... Does that mean he's after... Dudley?"

"Probably not. Even if he was, Petunia, he'd be making a stupid mistake. All biting someone Sirius and I know would do is give them the most help and support they could get. After all, I am one of the oldest werewolves in the UK and know a lot about the condition. And Sirius and my parents, they probably know more about it than most healers... That's our doctors. Sorry, I forgot you don't use that term."

Petunia was silent for a few seconds, absorbing this. "The other family, what do you think would happen if Luna was adopted by them?"

"She'd be dead inside a month," said Remus. "Having a werewolf for a child, no one wants that. Almost every time a child is bitten, their parents kill them in some sort of 'accident' within a month or two of them getting bit. The only reason my parents hadn't was because my mum couldn't have more children and they would have just died without children. Me and my dad are the only thing that keeps my mother from going off the deep end."

Petunia poured herself more tea. A small smile appeared on her face. "If you both- if you get custody-, what will she call me?"

Remus hadn't considered this. He had thought at best Petunia would be disinterested in this new child and at worst, been horribly angry that a few days a year she'd have three children to watch instead of just Dudley.

"I don't know. What would you like to be called?"

"Aunt Petunia, probably," she screwed up her face like she was thinking very hard. "Would only be fair to Harry."

"Yes, that would probably be best," said Remus looking down at his watch. "I'm sorry Petunia, time got away from me. I was supposed to be home an hour ago. I hope you don't find it rude for me to head out, yeah?"

"Let me show you out," said Petunia rising from her seat as Remus rose from his.

"I'm really glad you're okay with all this," said Remus, as he walked to the door.

Petunia suddenly seemed to remember that she was supposed to hate Remus, and therefore everything he did.

"Well, I'm not _**thrilled **_about having _two_ _**unnatural **_little_brats _running around with my son, but at least this one won't be here every month." She said adopting a meaner, though not very convincing tone.

"Of course," said Remus, hiding a smile as he opened the door. "Bye, Harry," he called.

"Be back tomorrow. No later than 6:00 PM. Vernon and I have things to do other than watch your little horror all night," she called behind him.

"Don't worry Petunia, we won't be late," said Remus pleasantly.

"Good luck tomorrow," she whispered as she closed the door.

"Thanks," whispered Remus back, though he knew she couldn't hear him.

As he walked to his Ford Country Squire, a thought hit him. Petunia Dursley didn't hate him. He had, possibly, reconciled with Petunia the way Lily had always wanted to when she was alive.

"Evans," he said to himself as he merged into traffic, "If you saw that, I made peace with your sister. So, if you got any pull up there, make sure to ask that Sirius and I get custody tomorrow." Whether Lily had heard him or not, something about asking made him feel better.

* * *

Stopping only to pick up some Chinese takeaway, Remus rushed home.

"Hullo, love," greeted Sirius from the kitchen. "Come in here, we have to get the arguments ready for tomorrow."

Perhaps it would have been better for Remus to not have picked up dinner, as it remained essentially uneaten. Instead, most of the time when it would have been eaten was spent doing paperwork and filling out forms and preparing documentation for this or that. Even when Remus went to bed at midnight, he felt like there was still a lot of work to be done.

* * *

"Do my robes look okay?" asked Remus for about the fifth time since he and Sirius had gotten up that morning.

"Remus, you look fine. And anyway, they don't expect you to dress like you stepped out of 'Wizard's Fashion Weekly'," Sirius reassured him, taking a bite of his cereal.

"Are you sure?" asked Remus, pulling at his tie. He hadn't worn dress robes since Lily and James' wedding.

"You're fine. Breakfast. Now. Eat. I'm all finished but you need to eat.

"I'm not hungry," responded Remus. And it was true. Despite not eating dinner the night before, he wasn't hungry. Perhaps it was nerves.

"You're never hungry. You still need to eat, though," insisted Sirius.

"It's fine Pads. Mum and Dad are coming to the hearing and you know my parents, they always take us out for lunch. I'll eat then."

Sirius sighed. "Fine. Grab the papers, I'll be in the parlour. We're flooing there right?"

Remus rubbed his eyes tiredly, and then noticed Sirius had said something to him. "Huh? Floo? Yeah. We're flooing. I'll be ready to go in two seconds. Just let me-" Remus reached for the papers. A mug of tea fell over onto the table where they sat and then smashed on the floor. After letting out a few choice words, he grabbed out his wand, repairing the mug and, for the most part, getting rid of the tea from the papers. Some of the ink was still running, but that was nothing a few minutes of drying couldn't solve.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Remus and Sirius were just outside the large door of the Wizengamot's chambers. The papers Remus held were in a horribly disorganized pile and the wet ink had gotten all over his clothes.

"Bugger all," muttered Remus, "I knew, _I knew, _I should have just worn muggle clothes and changed into robes here."

"It's fine. We have five minutes until the hearing. Just let me get out my wand and-"

A tall, swarthy pockmarked wizard in navy blue robes walked out of the Wizengamot's chambers "All parties involved in the Lovegood Custody Hearing enter now," he proclaimed in a voice with a touch of a Castilian accent.

"Bloody fucking hell," muttered Remus under his breath as he walked into the courtroom. He probably looked homeless with ink all over his front carrying a pile of mismatched papers.

Sirius sat in the viewing area, next to Remus' parents, Hestia Jones, and Kingley Shacklebolt. Couldn't let it look like he and Remus were there together. That just wouldn't do.

Arthur Weasley stood in a corner in the back of the room with a tape recorder or something in his hands. He waved at Remus and gave him a smile.

Remus set his papers down on the podium that was on the other side of the courtroom from where the three blonde haired Malfoys stood.

Luna sat in the corner, next to the stenographer, playing with a Doctor Who action figure Harry had left with her at the hospital. She looked at him and waved. He waved back.

"Is everyone present?" asked Albus Dumbledore, the head of the Wizengamot, standing up from the large platform where he sat along with other members.

"I think Georgia is still in the loo," said one of the wizards behind him. It wasn't a full Wizengamot, only fifteen or so members were present. Most of them were witches.

'That can either be very good or very bad,' thought Remus nervously. He fumbled with his wand and cleaned the ink off his clothes. There was nothing he could do with the smudged papers though. He'd just have to muddle through them when it was his turn to make his arguments.

A red-headed witch, probably Georgia, entered the courtroom, walking very quickly. She had a piece of toilet paper stuck to her shoe. Remus tried to get her attention so she could remove it. She didn't seem to notice.

"Now is everyone here?" asked Dumbledore. He wore his usual calming smile.

"I think so, Albus," said Amelia Bones. She smiled at Remus. It seemed that whenever Remus has a reason to be in court, she was always one of the people at the hearing. It was reassuring to say the least.

"Alright then. Ms Bones, could you tell the court why we are here today? I realise that this is usually my duty, but I'm feeling a little ill. Could you?" asked Dumbledore, sitting down.

"Of course, Albus. This is the custody hearing for Miss Luna Catherine Lovegood, age four years, seven months, formerly of Ottery St. Catchpole, currently a ward of the Wizarding community of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Because her parents, Xenophilius Lovegood and Sinead Lovegood née Malloy failed to name a guardian, this hearing is intended to find one for her. Mr Malfoy, if you wish, now is your turn to argue for why you should become Miss Lovegood's custodian."

Lucius Malfoy stood up. He looked over at Remus and sneered. Then, as he turned to face the court, his expression and demeanour changed. "Ladies and gentlemen, Luna is my cousin. She is my family and wizarding law expresses a desire to keep families together. This is made especially clear in 'Riht Bescinnlǣce Angelcynn', more commonly called 'Law in Magical England.' My wife, Narcissa and I have enough space in our home, and especially in our hearts to care for Miss Lovegood and we have the finances as well. We have a son slightly older than her who would benefit from a sibling. My wife doesn't work, which leaves her plenty of time to care for both children. You would be making the right choice in placing Luna in my care." Lucius sat back down, looking rather smug.

"Mr Lupin, if you have anything to say, now would be the time to do it," said Madame Bones with a smile.

"Um... Yes. Of course. Um... Well," Remus fumbled through his notes. "Mr Malfoy brought up Riht Bescinnlǣce Angelcynn, yes? Well, um, that book gives the order for custody as magical siblings of the child, then non-magical siblings of the child, right? And it defines sibling as two people possessing one or more of the same parents or who are raised by one or more of the same parent. But the text doesn't define parent. So, I think that means that, erm, any meaning of parent recognized in other areas of magical laws can apply, right? Well, the department for the regulation and control of magical creatures, the werewolf office specifically, they, um, define parent as the person who caused another person to become a werewolf. The person who did this to me was Fenrir Greyback. He is also listed as the man who did this to Luna. That would mean we're siblings, right?" Remus coughed nervously.

"Do you need a drink of water, Mr Lupin?" asked Dumbledore.

"Um, no thank you," said Remus. "If Luna is legally my sibling in that sense, then, according to Riht Bescinnlǣce Angelcynn, I would be Luna's closest magical relative and should therefore be given guardianship. I have the resources to care for her and have the knowledge to-"

Lucius Malfoy coughed dramatically, making Remus lose his place.

"and have the knowledge to take care of anything that happens to her as the result of her condition."

Remus sat down, feeling faint.

"Mr Malfoy, if you have reasons why you think Mr Lupin shouldn't be Miss Lovegood's custodian, please voice them now."

Lucius stood up. For about fifteen minutes he spoke of how Remus was dangerous, trotting out his war record, claiming only a very violent, borderline sociopathic man could kill two-hundred and eighty-seven wizards, even in a war. He also claimed that Luna would be unsafe with Remus and that it was a 'proven fact' that werewolves had a higher rate of child abuse than 'normal' people, 'particularly the type of abuse which a young girl would be particularly vulnerable to'. Finally he mentioned that Luna wouldn't have two parents to care for were Remus to get custody.

Remus felt doomed. Even if the Wizengamot gave him the chance to speak up against the charges, they probably wouldn't listen. Anti-werewolf bias was everywhere. Lucius would win. No matter what.

"Mr Malfoy, other than the last statement about Miss Lovegood having only one parent to care for her, do you have proof for any of your other statements?" asked Dumbledore calmly, his eyes twinkling.

"Well, erm, they're all common knowledge, sir," said Lucius sneering.

"Is it possibly common knowledge in this case could be wrong?"

"No, sir, I don't think so."

"Perhaps you should think more about it, Mr Malfoy," said Dumbledore with a smile. "Ms Bones, is it Mr Lupin's time to speak about his concerns?"

"Yes. Mr Lupin, if you have any fears about Mr Malfoy becoming Miss Lovegood's custodian?"

"Erm, yes. I worry that he'd kill her," said Remus quietly.

The courtroom which had been quieter than a tomb had suddenly become very loud. Lucius and Narcissa were screaming, Sirius was screaming back at them. The Wizengamot was looking very confused at each other and talking. The swarthy Castilian bailiff who had lead them in was shouting and seemed to have no idea who to quiet down first.

"Sirius, sit down and stop yelling. Lucius, Narcissa, I gave you the chance to speak your concerns without interruption, do the same for me. And honourable members of the council, please, redirect your attention back to me. Thank you." Suddenly, the courtroom was quite again. Lucius Malfoy wore a look of contempt on his face, his mouth hung open in surprise that Remus had spoken up to him. Sirius' mouth also hung open, but his face wore a look of awe.

"That's much better," said Remus calmly. "I realise that passive-aggressive comments are far more common in hearings here in these chambers, but I have not the time, nor energy for dealing that way. I wish to be frank with you all. There is not, here in the UK, a law that allows for parents of ill children to end their lives. But despite that, only four magical children who were transformed into werewolves and remained with their parents or guardians survived the first three months. Most of these deaths were ruled to be related to the condition, even though all of these deaths took place before the full moon. It is, in wealthier circles here in the UK, common to cause one's child to suffer an accident before they experience their first transformation. I worry that this is what Mr Malfoy intends to do should he get custody."

"And why exactly would I do that, Lupin?" sneered Lucius angrily, his hair flying into his face. "Why would I go to court to fight for guardianship of a child I only intend to kill?"

"Because you knew if you didn't, I'd get Luna. And that I wouldn't harm her. You are going for guardianship to ensure that there is one less werewolf in this world."

"Nonsense," said Lucius.

"Have you decorated a room for her? Bought clothing? Toys?" questioned Remus.

"No," said Lucius, looking flustered, "but, there is plenty of time to do that once she's at home with us. Have you?"

"Yes, I have. I have receipts right here." Remus dug through his pile of papers to find the stubs with his purchases recorded on them.

"I do find it rather queer, Lucius," said a tall, plump witch with a kind-looking face and grey hair, "That you don't have things prepared for Miss Lovegood to stay with you. As I recall, you and Narcissa had everything ready for Draco when she was only two months along. And a baby requires far more things than a little girl."

"Well, erm," said Lucius, clearing his throat nervously, "It was rather short notice to get things ready for another child."

The room was quite for a few moments, and then Madame Bones cleared her throat.

"Mr Lupin, do you have any more concerns?"

"No, Ma'am."

"Alright then, I think it is time for us-"

"Amelia," said Dumbledore quietly, "perhaps we should question Miss Lovegood. I know that she's too young for her opinion to legally be put into the record, but perhaps she should be asked what she thinks of all this. It would be best for us to listen to her, she just lost her parents, and I don't think she should be forced to lose her voice as well."

"Alright then," said Amelia Bones standing up and facing the rest of the Wizengamot, "All in favour of hearing from Miss Lovegood?" she asked. Six people, including Amelia, Dumbledore and the witch Remus thought was Georgia, raised their hands.

"All opposed?" another six people raised their hands.

"All abstaining?" everyone else, except for one elderly wizard in the back raised their hands.

"Dave, wake up," shouted Amelia Bones. The elderly wizard jumped awake.

"What the hell is it, 'Meli?" he asked.

"We're voting on whether or not to hear from Miss Lovegood on the matter of her guardianship. You're the tiebreaker," she said. Then she muttered under her breath, "G-d help us all."

"Why not hear from the kiddo? Bet she'll be more entertaining than anything else here today."

Madame Bones turned to where the stenographer sat. "Luna, could you come over here please?"

Luna, still holding the action figure of the Doctor Harry had given her in her right hand, walked over to the platform. "What is it?" Luna asked. She rubbed her eye with her left hand.

Madame Bones took out her wand and made a small child's chair appear in front of the raised area where she and the other Wizengamot members sat. "Could you sit down? We'd like to ask you a few questions."

Luna sat down on the floor. She either didn't notice the chair or didn't care to use it.

"There's a chair there for you, Luna. You could use it if you want to," said Ms Bones.

"It's made of oak. Sitting on an oak chair on a Saturday is bad luck, Mum says... well, said. I'd rather sit on the floor, thank you."

Madame Bones sighed and look a little frustrated. Then she decided to give up and just let Luna do what she wished. "Now, Luna, do you know anyone in this courtroom today?"

"Yes. That man next to you, he's Albus Dumbledore," said Luna pointing. She didn't look at anyone in the eye.

"I meant behind you. Do you recognise any of them?"

"Yes. He's Remus. He and the man with black hair behind him, Sirius, and their son came and visited me in the hopsital... I mean hospital."

"Their son? Mr Lupin, I thought you said you had no children."

Remus felt terrified. If they found out about Harry-

"Um, Amelia," said Sirius standing up. "I'm afraid Luna is a little mistaken. The boy we brought is my Godson, Harry Potter. Moony, I mean Remus, and I live really close to each other and we wanted to make sure Harry met Luna before Remus adopted her. To make sure they knew each other and liked each other."

"Thank you, Mr Black," said Madame Bones sounding suspicious. "Next time, please wait until I call on you." She turned back to Luna. "Do you know the other people? The man with blond hair? His wife? His son?"

Luna looked at them, then back at the floor. "I don't think so."

"Did they come visit you in the hospital?"

"The blonde lady did. But she didn't come in. She just talked to the healers outside the room. She asked all kinds of questions. She asked if Sirius had been there. She seemed happy when she got tolded he was."

"But Mrs Malfoy never came in and visited with you?"

"No, but she gaved the healers flowers to give me."

"Thank you, Luna," said Madame Bones. "Anyone else have any other questions for Luna?"

A few people asked questions. Then Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"I have a question for her, Amelia," said Dumbledore, "Luna?" he asked. The little girl looked up from her action figure for a few seconds and at him.

"What?"

"Who gave you that toy?"

"Harry did. He said that his name is 'The Doctor' and that he travels space fighting bad guys. Like daleks. Harry says daleks are bad guys who want to hurt people but the Doctor keeps people safe. He said the Doctor will keep me safe from bad guys like Greyback."

"That's a very nice thing for Harry to do."

"He says he'll be my big brother and keep me safe," said Luna smiling a little as she messed with the stalk of celery on the action figure. "He's a nice person. So are Remus and Sirius."

"I have no more questions, Amelia," said Dumbledore with a smile.

"Does anyone else?" asked Madame Bones. No one spoke up. "Then I think that means it's time to retire to chambers and take a vote. Come on, you lot," she said, walking off the platform and into a small door next to it. Everyone followed her. She closed the door and the a split second later, popped her head out. "For now we're dismissed. Be back by One o'clock on the dot."

"How do you think it went, Pads?" asked Remus, to Sirius as everyone but the stenographer, Luna and a woman in healers robes left the room.

"I'm a little worried they know about you and well..." said Sirius sighing.

"I was worried about that too," agreed Remus, sitting down next to Sirius. "Remember a few years ago we were here for Pete's trial? Harry was only a little thing."

"Yeah. Can't believe it's been five years."

Luna walked over to them. She looked scared. "Hullo," she said. "Where's Harry?"

"He's with his aunt and uncle today, darling," said Sirius with a smile.

"If those two other people 'dopt me instead, do I have to give Harry back the Doctor?"

"I don't think you'd need to, Luna," said Sirius. "I think Harry would want you to have it, no matter what."

"Are you hungry?" asked Remus, "My Mum and Dad planned to take Sirius and I out for lunch. Would you like to come with us?"

"Sure."

"Who's watching you?"

"That lady over there," said Luna pointing to the woman in healer's robes.

"Well, then," said Sirius, "I think it's time to put on the famous Black charm."

* * *

After lunch, everyone who had gone out with Remus' parents had returned to the court room. None of the Malfoys were there yet, but the Wizengamot had exited the small room where they had voted. They stood around, making conversation with one another.

"Hullo, lad," said Madame Bones, walking over to Remus. "I can't tell you anything about the case, but I can tell you that you may want to be more careful about telling children things. I know I am not the only one who didn't believe Mr Black's story about you and him only living down the road from him." Then she walked away.

Remus wanted to cry. She wouldn't have told him that if he got custody, would she? Sirius put his hand around Remus as he started to cry.

"Shush. It doesn't mean anything. We still have a chance. We do." Sirius tried to crack a joke. "They already think you're a pouf, you don't want to cry and prove it."

Remus calmed down and stopped crying. He and Sirius sat and talked quietly with the people who were there to support them.

After a half an hour, the three Malfoys returned.

"Thank you for finally gracing us with your presence," said Madame Bones sarcastically, "When I say one O'clock, though, I mean one o'clock. Not one thirty-five."

Lucius said nothing but shot a dirty look at Remus.

"Gentlemen, if you would come up here as we read the verdict?" said Madame Bones.

Remus felt like the bottom was going to fall out of his stomach as he walked to the front of the court, to the podium where he stood before. His knees felt weak.

Lucius returned to where he had stood as well, strutting like a proud peacock.

"This was a tough decision and we were deadlocked for much of the time. But we finally made our decision."

Remus took a deep breath, trying very hard not to cry.

"We have decided to place the ward, Luna Lovegood in the custody of Mr Remus Lupin, under one condition."

No, no, no, conditions weren't good.

"The condition is that Mr Sirius Black assists in taking care of Miss Lovegood. That, Mr Lupin, is what I meant when I said that we didn't believe you were only living down the road. Court is dismissed."

* * *

Sirius and Remus flooed home with Luna after doing all the paperwork they had to do.

"I'm going to go pick up Harry now," said Sirius, grabbing his keys off one of the tables in the parlour.

"Can I come with you?" Luna asked Remus. "I want to see Harry."

"I don't see why not," said Remus. "I'm going to stay home and take a nap. I'm dead tired."

When Sirius and Luna reached Petunia's house, both of them got out of the car and walked to the door. "Do you want to ring the doorbell?" Sirius asked Luna with a grin.

Luna rang the bell. A few seconds later, Petunia Dursley appeared at the door.

"Is this her?" she asked.

"Yep, this is Luna," said Sirius smiling like mad. "Luna this is your Aunt Petunia."

"You got pretty hair," said Luna.

"Is Harry here?" asked Sirius, looking at the hallway behind Petunia. Usually Harry came running when he heard Sirius was here.

"Yeah, come in though, I have something for you."

Sirius, holding onto Luna's hand followed Petunia into the house. She led him into the living room where Dudley and Harry were playing. Vernon stood by them, looking over Dudley's shoulder. On the coffee table was a colourfully wrapped gift.

"This is for you," she said handing the gifts to Sirius. "I got them as extras with stuff I bought for Dudley, so don't expect something like this again."

Sirius opened the gift. Inside were three bright, colourful sundresses. "Thank you," he said, surprised that Petunia would ever do something nice for him or his family.

"One more thing, Black," said Vernon walking over. He held an envelope in his hand. "This is from us too. I thought I should at least make sure you, you know, had money to buy the kid something."

Sirius opened the card. It contained two fifty pound notes and a coupon for a children's boutique nearby.

"When you, you know, go in and use that, maybe you could come over with the kids," said Vernon. "You know, so I can make sure you buy proper things with it," he added, making his tone harsher.

* * *

"It was a good day,Moony," said Sirius, walking into his bedroom. He had put the kids to sleep, letting Remus rest.

"It was," agreed Remus.

"I still can't believe Vernon Dursley gave us a gift."

"Me neither Padfoot. Miracles do happen, though. Perhaps next he'll vote Labour and think magical society is fine and dandy."

Sirius snorted. "No. Never. Hell would freeze over first."

* * *

A/N Please read and review.

Also, check out the sequal to this 'Harry Potter: Book 1'.

I think there will be three more chapters of this fic, but I am working on it and Book 1 at the same time because one sometimes spurs ideas for the other.


	7. Chapter 7

Luna's adjustment to living with the three of them didn't seem to be going as well as Sirius imagined it was going to. He had hoped that she would immediately fit into their routine, forgetting, almost, that her parents were dead or that she even had parents before him and Remus.

He was angry that, despite all the hard work he and Remus had put into getting custody of her and the money they spent to care for her, she missed her mum and dad.

Bitter because when she had nightmares she'd go sleep in Harry's bed instead of waking them up and telling them about it.

Bitter she didn't seem to love them. Every night, before Harry went to bed, he'd give Sirius and Remus a hug and beg to be read to. When they tried to hug Luna goodnight, she'd squirm away or start to cry, it made him angry. Sirius knew it wasn't right to be angry at a four year old, but he couldn't help how he felt.

"I could strangle her sometimes," said Sirius, late one night as he got ready for bed, "She doesn't look me in the eye, she doesn't say 'please' or 'thank you'. She doesn't let me touch her or anything. She always looks so sad. When I try to cheer her up, it doesn't work. I don't know whether it's her or me."

"I hate to say it's her, but it is. She doesn't let me touch her either. She fell down the other day and when I tried to help her up, I guess the best way to phrase it would be 'flipped out'. My father thinks Luna might have PTSD from Greyback's attack. That could be what's going on. He thinks we should take Luna to a psychiatrist."

To Sirius, his lover may as well have been speaking Cantonese. "What? In English."

"My dad thinks Luna is traumatized from seeing her parents killed in front of her and from being bitten by Greyback. Because of that, he thinks we should take her to a muggle doctor that specializes in helping people with their emotions. That more clear?"

Sirius, who was somewhat distracted undoing the buttons of his shirt, nodded. "I think it makes sense, but why can't she talk to us about it?"

"We're not professionals, for one, and for two, I don't think she trusts us yet. That was what I was saying when we went for custody. She likes us, but she can't trust us yet. When we got Harry, he already knew us. He trusted us. Luna didn't know us until the day we showed up in her hospital room."

"Why'd she trust one of these emotion doctors then?"

"I don't know, but would it hurt to give it a try, Padfoot? It's better than feeling like we aren't doing anything right, wouldn't it?"

"We can't pay. The pittance the ministry gives aurors for medical care doesn't work for muggle doctors. And I can't legally adopt her, so she can't be on my policy anyway."

"You have your mother's money," Remus reminded him.

"I'm not touching that old bat's money. She probably hexed it to burn my fingers when I used it."

"Nothing would make her angrier than you using it to pay for a werewolf's muggle health care bills."

Sirius smiled as he unbuttoned his trousers. "You're going to make me, aren't you?"

"You know Mad-Eye, right?"

"Of course I do. Did you forget I was in the Order with you?"

Remus chuckled. "No, I didn't forget. Moody is a textbook example of PTSD when left untreated. Do you want Luna ending up like that? Crying in the corner when she hears 'Little Red Riding Hood'. Having a panic attack when she sees an Alsatian or another dog that looks like a wolf. We adopted her so she'd be able live. I don't think being terrified all the time is very much of a life, do you?" Sirius considered this for a few moments. Harry had to do reports on his favourite breed of dog in one of his classes. If Luna's class had to do the same and someone did a report on a dog that looked like Greyback in wolf form, if she started to cry, she'd be bullied mercilessly.

"We'd need one whose a squib or a wizard."

"Mum's already searching for one. You know my parents; even if I hadn't agreed to take Luna, they'd still do it when she came to visit."

"Damned Ravenclaw stubbornness. When they think they're right and think you're wrong, they won't give in."

"It even passes down to children who weren't in Ravenclaw," said Remus with a smile, "Now come to bed. We haven't had time alone together for ages. My mum and dad joke we aren't even a couple anymore. We're just friends who platonically live together raising kids." "They know far more about your sex life than the parents of most people I know."

"My parents are Ravenclaws. They insist on knowing everything about everyone else's sex life."

* * *

"Alright Harry, Luna, here's the game plan for today. We're going to finish breakfast, and then Harry and I are going to work on the yard. Luna you and Sirius are going to go to the doctor. After that, we're going over to my mum and dad's for dinner. Is that clear?" asked Remus. Harry nodded, but Luna said nothing, instead she seemed to stare out the window, as though transfixed by something.

"Luna, did you hear what Remus said?" asked Sirius.

"You and I are going to the doctor today after breakfast. Harry and Remus are staying home and working in the yard. When that's all done, we're going to Ms Josephine's house for dinner," said Luna still not looking away from the window.

"Look at me and say that," Sirius said, sounding a little sad.

Luna looked in Sirius' direction, though not in his eyes. "You and I to the doctor. Remus and Harry yard. Dinner at Ms Josephine's."

* * *

'Something's certainly not right with her,' thought Sirius on the ride to the psychiatrist's office, 'Her being a werewolf isn't a problem; it's whatever else is going on with her.'

"Are you angry at me?" asked Luna from the backseat of Sirius' car. He and Remus had bought it shortly after they adopted Luna. It was a Peugeot. It had seatbelts even.

"No, Luna, I'm not. What'd make you think I was?"

"I heard you and Remus talking last night about me when I walked by your bedroom. You were angry with me."

"I'm not angry at you, I'm just sad I can't seem to help you."

"That's what my Mummy used to say," said Luna, sounding sad.

* * *

For Remus, caring for the lawn meant mowing and fertilizing and mulching and tilling and watering. For Harry, it meant picking flowers to put on his parents' grave and then, when that was done, running through the sprinkler Remus turned on in the middle of the vegetable garden, getting as wet as he possibly could.

"Feverfew and hyssop today," said Harry, "the divination book had pictures of them and said protection under them."

"You can read a big word like protection, I'm impressed, Harry. Your teacher did say you were reading at a year four level, but I wasn't sure I believed her." As Remus watched Harry pick the flowers so carefully, as though he was going to break them, he couldn't help but smile. "Your mother loved flowers; every kind, except for one."

"What was the kind she didn't love?" asked Harry, looking up from his flower picking.

"Daffodils; they used to be her favourite, but then, a friend of hers got upset with her for something nice she tried to do to him and he called her some very rude names. When he realised what he did, he tried to make her happy with him again, by gathering daffodils from all around the school and owling them to her day after day. Every day she'd take the daffodils and throw them into the fireplace in the great hall. Finally after a week of that, she stood up on the Gryffindor table and announced she not only hated daffodils; she hated the boy who kept sending them to her and that she never wanted to see him again. After that day, even the sight of daffodils made your mother start to cry."

"What bad things did her friend say to her?"

"You know how some people have magic and other people don't?" asked Remus.

"Yeah," said Harry, plucking petal after petal off one of the feverfew he had picked.

"Well, sometimes non-magic people have magic kids. That was your mum. She's what we call muggleborn. Muggleborn is a nice word for wizards whose parents don't have magic. Your mother's former friend called her a mean name for muggleborns. He called her a..." Remus paused and took a breath. As the son of a muggleborn witch, he hated the word with every fibre of his being. "He called her a mudblood."

Harry laughed, but then noticing the look that crossed Remus' face, he stopped and looked confused. "Sorry, the word just sounds funny. That's all."

"It isn't a funny word, Harry. It's a very serious word. Your mother's friend used it against her once, after being friends with her for almost ten years and destroyed her relationship with him. Your teachers may say words may never hurt you, but in our world, words can be some of the most hurtful things ever."

* * *

"Luna Lovegood?" called a tall, friendly looking redheaded woman in an argyle sweater vest. She held a clipboard in her left hand. Luna and Sirius both got out of their seats and walked over to her.

"I'm Dr Babson. Are you her father?"

"Sort of," replied Sirius, hesitantly, "my erm...lover? Partner?; is her adoptive father. But he thought it was important for me to go to this instead of him. I'm going to be raising her too, so it's important I don't just..." he paused, "Rambling, sorry. I'm Sirius," he said extending a hand.

"Well, normally, I'm going to have your, or your partner, sit out here until the last fifteen minutes of our session, but this week, since it's our first meeting together, I'd like for you to come in with Luna and I."

Sirius and Luna were led down a hallway and into a room with toys and three or four chairs that looked far too small for an adult. The doctor told Luna she could start playing, so she could speak with Sirius.

"Sit down Mr Black," said Dr Babson. She took a wand out of her pocket and put an enlargement spell on the chairs. "You don't know how good it feels to be able to do magic at work. I go home and ache all over because of how tiny these chairs are. Feels good to be able to make them bigger."

"I understand the feeling. When I'm at Harry's school for teacher conferences it seems I always get stuck with the little tiny chairs. I hurt all over at the end of the day."

"Harry? Is he another one of your partner's children?"

"No, he's my adoptive son. Harry Potter. Remus, that's my lover's name, and I, we were James Potter's best friends at school."

"So, does Luna consider Harry her brother then?"

Sirius sighed. "I'm not really sure. That's part of why Remus and I decided to bring her here. I worry she's not fitting in with the family or that she misses her mum and dad too much or something."

"That's a normal feeling. Tell me more."

* * *

"Did Dad or Sirius or, what's-his-name, did any of them say mean things to you about being a werewolf or a halfblood or anything?" asked Harry.

Remus, realising he probably would be spending more time than he thought talking to Harry, sat down in the grass. "Well, my mum and dad, your grandparents, they never married, so when I first started school, this was a big deal. Back then, everyone's parents were married. One or two of the muggleborn students might have been children of divorce. It was just starting to become acceptable back then, and no one had parents like mine, unmarried, hippies, young enough to be my siblings. My mum had only been seventeen when she had me. So Sirius called me a bastard, which is a mean term for someone whose parents weren't married when they had them. And he called my mum a mean name, so I socked him. Amazingly, that was the start of our friendship."

"Really?" asked Harry smiling.

"Yes. He and your dad, and that slimy little traitor, they were some of the best friends a boy could wish for. If your friends are only half as good friends as they were, count yourself lucky."

* * *

"What problems do you think you want to work on more with Luna?" asked the doctor.

Sirius, who had been watching Luna play, turned to her. "I'd like Luna to learn to trust us more. And for us to be able to talk better, I guess. I don't know. I've never been good at this feeling stuff. And to figure out what's up with her and help her deal with her issues surrounding her parents' death."

"Well, those last two I can help with definitely, but I think for the others I'd like to recommend a therapist. I know a woman; she's a muggleborn with a practice in Devon, which isn't terribly close. She does both children's therapy and family therapy. I think three one-on-one sessions for Luna, with a family session once a month may be the most helpful thing at this point. And once every three months or so with me. That sounds okay?"

"Yeah," said Sirius. "I think that should be fine."

* * *

"Remus, what was the boy's name?" asked Harry. He and Remus had gone inside. The rain had started to fall and it was hard to mow in the rain. So instead they were making milkshakes and breakfast muffin pizzas in the toaster oven.

"Huh? Oh the boy?" asked Remus. He had been trying to avoid cutting off his fingers while cutting up an onion for his pizza. "His name's Severus Snape. He teaches at Hogwarts. He's a potion's professor."


End file.
